Thursday, December 12, 2013

Offline Water Purifiers have redefined the Category

One of the
key expectations of consumers is clean drinking water. Contaminated water cuts
productivity of people across income segments. It even hurts millions of not so
well-off consumers who earn daily wages. Every day lost due to illness results
directly in wage loss.

Emergence of new trends and advent of new technology has resulted in
remarkable changes in the domestic market for water purifiers. The recent
report from Market Pulse, Opportunities in the Water Purifier Market in India, highlights another vibrant story, that of the offline storage water purifiers.

This research study has
ascertained that of the 4.3 million water purifiers sold in
2012 at an estimated value of INR 18.64 billion, a staggering 71% were offline
storage water purifiers accounting for INR 5.6 billion of sales.

These offline water purifiers have redefined the category
over the last 5 years. “These inexpensive water purifiers, which are sold for
as little as Rs. 1000, have expanded the market manifold by making the product
affordable for bottom-of-the-pyramid households. The research suggests that
more than 15% of the lower and lower middle income households in urban India now
have an offline water purifier”, said Ejaz Hoda, CEO of Market Pulse.

Pureit
water purifiers from Hindustan Unilever have led the explosive growth in the
last 5 years. It is the market leader in the offline water purifier category
and enjoys a 60% market share. TATA Chemicals’ Swach and Eureka Forbes are
other significant brands in this market.

Only 8% of
these offline water purifiers are sold through the modern retail chains. The balance
is retailed through a network of almost 21,000 conventional stores. The market
leader, Pureit, is available at almost 14000 outlets. A bulk of these retail
stores belong to 4 sales channels – Consumer Electronic and White Goods Stores,
Kitchen Utensil shops and Electrical & Small Appliance stores; these
contribute equally to the total sales.

This category is likely to see increased competition in
the near future. New entrants like Tupperware
and Amway have also launched offline water purifiers to get a share of the pie.
There are others like TTK Prestige, a kitchen appliance leader, contemplating
an entry into this market.